西方文明觀念的發展與現代文明的出現，1870-1930

The Development of the Concept of Civilization in the West and the Rise of Modern Civilization, 1870-1930

周如怡(Ju-yi Chou)

指導教授 ： 王世宗

國立臺灣大學/文學院/歷史學研究所/碩士(2007年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2007.01955

摘要

十八世紀之後西歐知識份子開始自覺所處的時代不同於以往，因而重新解釋過往的歷史，檢討當前人類的處境，更進一步提出歷史發展所應有的方向，於是乃有「文明觀」（concept of civilization）的提出。文明觀有兩層含意，其一是對過往歷史的詮釋，其二則是論歷史發展應有的方向及目的；前者針對歷史過程的實然面，後者則論未來歷史發展之應然；「文明」（civilization）一詞在今日的用法中可指歷史發展的過程與階段（progress and stages），也可指人類社會的理想狀態（ideal state）。若有所謂歷史發展，則必有方向，若有方向，則必有其目的，因此文明觀必含有目的論（teleological）的思想，也必同時包含上述兩層含意。十八、十九世紀當文明觀尚在發展初期時，人們相信人類歷史的發展將經歷既定的各種階段，朝向一理想社會不斷進化，此即是直線進步觀（idea of linear progress）；直到十九與二十世紀之交人們方開始討論文明理想與現實歷史發展之間的不同，漸而不再將歷史視為人類社會進步至完美的過程。
本論文以人文學的方法討論十九世紀文明觀的起源與特質，以及文明觀在十九世紀末以迄一次大戰之後的轉變；並進一步試圖探討十九、二十世紀之交文明觀轉變的歷史意義，從中發現現代文明觀的特質與文明未來發展可能的方向。

關鍵字

文明觀 ； 文明 ； 文化 ； 現代性 ； 第一次世界大戰 ； 1870-1914 ； 1870-1930

並列摘要

The concept of civilization originated from the historical consciousness of the intellectuals in the eighteenth century. Foreseeing the coming of a new era, these intellectuals proposed a handful of reconstruction plans for an expecting society, and debated the appropriate ways in the future progress. The concept of civilization represents two correlating ideas: the first is the reinterpretation of the past, and the second is the ideal objective of the progress of history. The modern usage of the word civilization is to denote either the different stages and progress of the history or the ideal state of society. The different modern usages show that there must be a final goal and direction in historical process; namely the concept of civilization is teleological. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the concept of civilization was the idea of linear progress: history would progress through different but definite stages and keep evolving until achieving the ideal state of society. It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that few people found the clash between the reality of human nature and the ideal state of historical development and started to doubt the concept of their contemporaries.
The thesis treats “civilization” as a historical and humanistic concept. The thesis investigates the origin and the characteristics of the concept in the nineteenth century, and its changes from the end of the nineteenth century to the end of the WWI. An attempt to interpret the historical meaning and significance of the change of concept between the centuries would be made. Through the discussion above, the author in the end would try to describe the characteristics of modern civilization and the probable direction of the future development of “our” civilization.

並列關鍵字

concept of civilization ； civilization ； culture ； modernity ； WWI ； 1870-1914 ； 1870-1930

參考文獻

1. 王世宗，〈自由派的帝國主義：英國對埃政策，一八九三至一八九四〉，中央研究院《歐美研究》，第三十一卷第三期，頁1-47。

2. 周如怡，〈成一家之言與通古今之變：究錢穆的天人之際〉，《東吳歷史學報》第十五期，2006年6月。

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ Press, 1910-1911.

2. International Herald Tribune (Paris, Aug. 10, 1989).

3. Letters, Bulletin of the New York Public Library, XXIX (July 1925).